From Burns Times Herald (Summer, 2006)

"A rare gem, first time available in decades! Fish every cast, hunting, views, history, wildlife, and utter wilderness seclusion! Build a cabin. This is for the person that wishes a wilderness setting. There will be no electricity and access is via BLM old primitive road. Property provides only ATV access tracks to creek in 20-miles. Spring water and stream at logical site for cabin. Check additional McCoy parcels on this site for additional photos. Strong investment opportunity, i.e., environmentalists/BLM will/do wish to acquire. Steens Loop Rd.starts at Frenchglen, which is some 60-miles south of Burns. Some 18-miles up this road is Fish Lake. Just before Fish Lake a BLM primitive road turns off to the north paralleling the west canyon top of McCoy Creek. Properly is string of 40s with mile of stream bottom. Located some 6-miles down BLM primitive road. This 480-acres is priced at: $750,000. Owner will carry financing."

It’s been tough for conservationists to get ahead of the land speculation frenzy on Steens Mountain.

In the six years since the Steens Act was passed by Congress, we have made little progress in moving conservation issues left unresolved in the Act. As we continue to work hard with others to address these issues (road closures, wilderness study areas, grazing, etc), we are now facing a new threat that could trump all other issues combined.

This summer, Dan Jordan, a local landowner on Steens Mountain, filed a Measure 37 claim requesting Harney County to waive its zoning ordinance to allow him the option of selling off 640 one-acre lots near Fish Lake (includes Whorehouse Meadows) on the top of Steens Mountain (different from the Burns newspaper ad above). As many in Oregon now know, Measure 37 was a state ballot measure granting longtime owners of land (prior to land-use zoning) to claim development rights as of the time the land was purchased or otherwise be compensated by the local jurisdiction for their loss.

As the measure itself is undergoing lawsuits elsewhere in Oregon, it remains to be seen whether Jordan will be able to proceed with his development.

Jordan bought the 640-acre parcel on Steens in 1966 and has graciously allowed the public to use his property for recreation use over these many years. We have no doubt that Jordan cares for the land and wants to see the land protected. But we also know he wants to explore all his options. In this case, he wants to maximize the dollar value placed on the land when it comes time to reach agreement on a transition plan for his land to a more permanent status, where Jordan, the BLM and the public, can achieve everyone’s expectations.

ONDA’s goal is twofold: prevent Jordan’s Measure 37 request from becoming a template for future Measure 37 requests on Steens, and to work with Dan Jordan to make certain that he gets what he needs to ensure the permanent protection of his land for generations to come. To that end, we must temper the threat of Jordan’s request in its current form. Failure is not an option. If we don’t nip this in the bud, Measure 37 claims will haunt Steens for years to come (unless we can remove the threat of Measure 37 altogether, a far preferable option).

To put this in to perspective, let’s look at the scale of possible threats on Steens, where literally thousands of acres remain in private ownership. Fully 17 percent of the Steens management area is in private ownership (see map). Moreover, 10 percent of the Steens Wilderness is in private ownership. Of course, not all private landowners are eligible to file Measure 37 claim. Nonetheless, even if only half of this amount were eligible, 43,000 acres (43 Dan Jordan proposals) could be looming on the horizon with similar requests for development being submitted to Harney County. The result would be an unmitigated mess.

Fortunately, many, if not most, landowners on Steens would never contemplate dividing up their lands for residential development. But we have no control over the remaining landowners who may not share the value of keeping Steens in open space.

The second goal is to work with Dan Jordan to make certain that he gets what he needs to ensure the permanent protection of his land for generations to come.

The bigger issues

Two issues underscore the current threat to the open and wild spaces of Steens. While I’m confident we can confront the threat of Measure 37, we can only do it if Harney County is willing to participate in protecting Steens Mountain as a vital economic asset and if Congress is willing to fund future land acquisitions to meet ongoing threats (and opportunities).

The first problem is Harney County’s land-use zoning ordinance: it’s lax. Currently, private lands can be divided into 160-acre sized parcels (or four parcels per square mile … in Dan Jordan’s situation, he would be limited to dividing his 640-acre parcel into four parcels). This may not sound like a lot until you realize at the 160-acre lot size, over 500 separate building lots could be created within the Steens management area (this assumes that all existing land ownership on Steens consists of lots of at least 160 acres, which they are not). This would have devastating impacts on recreation use, wilderness values, open space and wildlife.

A former commissioner from Harney County once suggested the minimum parcel size on Steens should be 640 acres (a square mile). This would be a vast improvement in minimizing scattered development over the entire landscape, but would still have a noticeable impact to the casual visitor to Steens. The second issue involves a promise made by Oregon’s delegation at the time the Steens Act was passed into law. During the yearlong discussion leading to passage of the Steens Act, almost all stakeholders identified the possibility of private land development on Steens as a serious issue, threatening the unique wilderness qualities that people have come to appreciate and love over so many generations.

To address this issue, Oregon’s delegation agreed to authorize $25 million for future acquisition of land and conservation easements on Steens. To date, not one dime has been appropriated for that purpose. Granted, it’s not been easy finding money for land acquisition over the last six years in Congress. And it’s not that Rep. Walden and others in the Oregon delegation haven’t tried. But it was the promise of future funding that lulled some stakeholders, including myself, into believing we would be prepared to deal with this on-going development threat systematically over time.

While I’m confident we can address this threat with the help of our members and supporters, I’m not confident federal funding will be forthcoming given the financial mess Congress is in, irrespective of the power shift in Congress. Regardless, we should all continue to remind our delegation how important Steens Mountain is, and how important it is to keep trying to fulfill their promise from 2000. (Take Action Now!!)

We will all need to pull together to help stop this Measure 37 threat in order to preserve the wild and open spaces of Steens Mountain.